Rematch sure for Yayuk at Australian Open
Rematch sure for Yayuk at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia (Agencies): Indonesia's lonely flag carrier in top-flight tennis, Yayuk Basuki, overcame a partisan crowd and center court nerves here yesterday to win a third round spot and a rematch against Germany's Anke Huber in the Australian Open.
Making only her second center court appearance in a Grand Slam tourney, the 24-year-old from Yogyakarta disappointed a packed crowd by thrashing home-town player Nicole Bradtke 7-5, 6- 4
"It was fun actually. I really enjoyed it. The first couple of games I was feeling uncomfortable but after that it was okay," she said.
Yayuk, who is ranked 29th in the world, was last on center court at Wimbledon in 1993. She notched her best performance here in 1992 when she reached the third round but lost to Monica Seles.
Yayuk said the home-crowd was "no problem. I expected it." But the match was patchy, with Yayuk admitting to many errors. In the second set, she allowed the Australian to go from 1-1 to 3-1 before she reacted.
The Indonesian, who is coached by her husband Suharyadi, said that Bradtke appeared scared of her big forehand. "Bradtke tried to put things on my backhand all the time," said elated Yayuk.
Yayuk, who was the first Indonesian woman player to turn professional five years ago, will meet 10th seed Huber in the third round. They have met before and are tied at 1-1.
Huber was barely troubled in dispatching Australian teenager Siobhan Drake Brockman for the loss of just one game.
Seventh seed Kimiko Date had more on her mind than the tournament yesterday, spending most of her spare time telephoning family and friends after the destructive Japanese earthquake.
But Date said after beating Kazakhstan's Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-2 that she spent a sleepless night and constantly watched television news bulletins through Tuesday on the latest from the trembler that devastated the Japanese city of Kobe and slammed through Kyoto and Osaka, killing more than 1,800 people.
"My family home is in Kyoto, but it's okay. And I lived three years in Kobe, so I have many friends there," 24-year-old Date told a news conference.
Date's compatriot Naoko Sawamatsu won her first round match yesterday only hours after being told that the earthquake had demolished her parents' home in Nishinomiya, east of Kobe, where the damage was greatest.
Number two Conchita Martinez easily defeated another German, Veronika Martinek, in a second round match but afterwards complained of a sore neck that had hampered her top-spin backhand.
Stark warning
In the men's singles, a super-relaxed Jim Courier was heading for a quarterfinal showdown with world number one Pete Sampras after a stunning three-set demolition of Italy's Cristiano Caratti.
The ninth seed, finding Melbourne the ideal venue to parade a new laid-back image, followed up his impressive first round victory over the Czech Republic's David Rikl with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 win over Caratti in just 80 minutes.
"It's a different atmosphere here... It's a lot more relaxed than the other three grand slams," said Courier, who has pledged to enjoy life more this year after a forgettable 1994 when his ranking slipped from number three to a year-end 13.
While Courier was having fun on Center Court, Caratti was plainly suffering, particularly in the third set when the American took the first nine points before wrapping up the set in 23 minutes.
Courier, who said he wanted to put 1994 behind him and play to his strengths, namely his serve and forehand, that won the singles titles here in 1992 and 1993. He lost to Sampras in last year's semifinals.
And he is likely to face the number one seed again in the top half of the draw after his fellow American gave a similar awesome second-round performance in removing Jan Kroslak of Slovakia 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.
Seeded number seven Michael Stich lifted German gloom in the aftermath of Boris Becker's shock exit at the Australian Open with a stark warning to his rivals at Flinders Park.
"I believe I can raise my game another 30 to 40 percent and do much better than I've done in previous years," Stich declared after leading the charge into the third round with a 6-0, 6-3, 6- 4 demolition of unseeded American Alex O'Brien on Center Court.
Stich emerged as Germany's last realistic hope for the men's title when Becker fell in straight sets to American Patrick McEnroe on Tuesday.
In yesterday's later action, Michael Chang powered to a straight sets victory over Moroccan Karim Alami to reach the third round. The fifth seeded American needed 102 minutes to dispose of the 105-ranked Alami from Casablanca, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
Chang, who beat Sampras to win the Kooyong classic here last weekend in the lead-up to the year's first Grand Slam, will now play Martin Damm of the Czech Republic in the third round.